As an ACS member you automatically get access to this site. All we need is few more details to create your reading experience.

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ERROR 2

Yes! I want to get the latest chemistry news from C&EN in my inbox every week.

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

CDC director Robert Redfield (right) speaking at a White House press conference with President Donald J. Trump.

During past disease outbreaks, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has taken center stage in communicating research and health recommendations. But the CDC has been pushed aside by the White House in communication about the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new analysis of press briefings by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a science advocacy group. For the 2016 Zika, 2014 Ebola, 2009 H1N1, and 2003 SARS epidemics, US presidents gave a combined total of 7 briefings, compared with 68 by the CDC. In contrast, President Donald J. Trump’s White House held 50 press events in the first 13 weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with just 19 for the CDC; the CDC has held no briefings in the past 2 months. CDC officials have occasionally been present and made remarks at White House briefings. “When previous presidents were challenged with epidemic disease, they put the experts out front, and let CDC do its job of informing the public,” Anita Desikan, a UCS researcher, says in a statement. “The scientists have been sidelined and political officials have put themselves in between the facts and the public.”